1) You know, now that I think about it...no. I don't see anything particularly clever about intentional flamebait. I'm sure it drives plenty of traffic that wouldn't otherwise care to visit the site, but not particularly clever.

2) Please avoid attempting to refute one anecdotal statement with another.

3) I'm famous. The Marco himself has taken notice.

http://twitter.com/marcoarment/statuses/234122334645137408